The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government’s commitment to free speech is in the spotlight as Human Rights Watch (HRW) has slammed Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his team for using “abusive laws” to investigate and prosecute speech critical of his government.
Since PN “took over the federal government in early March 2020, the authorities have sharply heightened investigations of individuals under broadly worded laws that violate the right to freedom of expression,” HRW said in an editorial today.
The global human rights watchdog also said this harkened back to the previous Barisan Nasional government.
“Like flicking a light switch, Malaysian authorities have returned to rights-abusing practices of the past, calling journalists, activists, and opposition figures into police stations to be questioned about their writing and social media posts,” HRW deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said.
Cases cited by HRW include: journalist Tashny Sukumaran who wrote a piece on migrants amid the Covid-19 pandemic, NGO Centre to Combat Corruption & Cronyism’s Cynthia Gabriel for writing on political patronage and PKR politician Xavier Jayakumar for criticising the government’s decision to limit the recent parliamentary sitting.
HRW also said that recently, prosecutors had charged a businessman with violating Section 233(1) of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) and Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for social media comments criticising the government for prosecuting individuals who violated the movement restrictions put in place due to Covid-19. On June 5, prosecutors charged R Sri Sanjeevan, the head of the Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force, with two counts of violating Section 233(1) of the CMA for allegedly posting “false” information about the police on social media.
Section 233(1) of the CMA makes it an offense to make an online communication that is “indecent, obscene, false, menacing or offense in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person,” and carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a RM50,000 (US$11,695.00) fine.
Meanwhile, Section 504 of the Penal Code, one of the laws cited in the Sukumaran investigation, provides for up to two years in prison for anyone who “intentionally insults… any person, intending or knowing it to be likely that such provocation will cause him to break the public peace.”
Section 505(b) of the Penal Code makes it an offense punishable by up to two years in prison to make, publish, or circulate “any statement, rumor or report with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public, whereby any person may be induced to commit an offense against the state or against public tranquility.”
Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah responded to Sukumaran on Twitter on May 3, stating that he had instructed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) not to charge her. However, the government has stopped short of reforming the CMA.
HRW said under international human rights standards, governments may only impose restrictions on freedom of expression if they are provided by law and are necessary for the respect of the rights or reputations of others, or for the protection of national security, public order, public health, or morals.
Restrictions must be narrowly drawn to limit speech as little as possible, and sufficiently precise that an individual can understand what is made unlawful. None of the laws at issue meets these standards, HRW added.
“Malaysians should be able to criticise their government and its policies without fear of facing police questioning and possible criminal charges,” Robertson said. “Instead of dusting off abusive laws for use against its critics, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration should amend or repeal those laws to protect everyone’s freedom of speech in Malaysia.” – June 10, 2020
